Regions followed

The wiki is like a katamari that rolls up stories. Describe Nick Schmalenberger here. I grew up in Davis and like it, especially Davis water. I now live in the bay area working for Conviva. On Davis Wiki, I like to see active discussion about Davis in a very free and highly linked mesh topology way like Katamari Damacy. My hobbies are collecting comic books, reading, bsing with people on Davis wiki, learning about UNIX and computer programming, amateur radio(KG6PIP), caving, and being outside (does a cave count as outside?). I like to ride my bicycle around town and go backpacking, skiing, and canoeing. I am an Eagle Scout from Troop 111. I am usually in the daviswiki irc channel and on AIM as nickzxcv. Someday I would like to visit the Isle of Skye, because I like the name, among other places such as Sky Harbor, to which I hope to go back some day. I think Sky Harbor is the most beautiful and melodious name for an airport I have ever heard.

My favorite comic book series is Girl Genius by Phil and Kaja Foglio. It is a webcomic now, here: http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/, but it was in print for thirteen issues and I own all of them in single issues, trade paperback, hardcover, or all three. I also like Neil Gaiman, Fables, Star Wars, and lots of other science fiction and fantasy, including the book Darkmage by Barbara Hambly. I am one of the few geeks in the world who has read Ender's Game (twice, both assigned) and didn't like it. I have an account at Librarything. My favorite Star Wars movies are IV,II,V,III,I,VI in the order of my preference from best to worst. Firefly/Serenity are amazing and much like my favorite Star Wars episode, A New Hope. I also like to read some other webcomics and play games like Nethack. People on the wiki who make a hobby of passive aggressively bothering other users about their username or other wiki activity annoy me. Reading Sam's Mediterranean/Politics makes me laugh, but people who think other people belong in a zoo and the Daviswiki is it bother me.

Kettle of fish.

Tell me about cute penguins in your computer.

2009-11-25 03:20:44 Hmmm...while I have no penguins on my computer, I did enjoy your use of the word "melodious" in your description of the airport. Chhatrapati Shivaji International in India doesn't quite roll off the tongue, does it? Thanks for your nice comments about my blog! —jsbmeb

2009-11-25 07:33:08 Hey, ScottWeintraub left a cryptic message on Subway that indicates he may need a helping hand. Or not: it is awfully cryptic. Still, I think (and it is only my opinion) somebody should reach out to him and see what he meant in case he needs help. —JabberWokky

2010-01-04 22:31:23 Well, I am guessing that the person who originally wrote that thought that students, who on average tend to be young and healthy, might not have much experience with health care and so not know the right thing to do in an emergency. Maybe that person (I haven't bothered to see who made the edit) even knew some students who had made the mistake. I figure, at worst it is condescending and at best it might help someone. —CovertProfessor

2010-01-12 08:43:40 Her only edits to date have been via a comment box. It is plausible that she wouldn't be able to figure out how to reply without one. Having a bit of communication would certainly encourage one to figure out how to edit the other two ways. (Unless you're implying but not saying that she's not a new editor, which I am unaware of). —JabberWokky

2010-01-28 18:13:27 Nick, not sure if you're a guy or a girl, but I have nothing nice to say about davis. Don't want to rag on your hometown, but after being forced to live there for three years I'll just say the truth hurts! Get out and see the world & you might stop being such a homer —davisGeek

2010-01-31 22:22:37 Thanks for the recommendation! I haven't tried many different clients, just mIRC and ChatZilla, but I like CZ pretty well. Very easy to use, although it's no longer built-in since I stopped using Firefox. I may go ahead and check out the Opera client. —TomGarberson

2010-02-26 09:34:35 I would like to, but unfortunately I have a large project due on Monday that I will need to devote my weekend to. —hankim

2010-02-26 09:50:39 Thanks for taking the time to comment on that. I vaguely remember some of this stuff, and as JW noted, I was just quick-checking to see if minimalist application is legitimate. —EdWins

2010-02-27 18:16:33 Nick, if William hadn't cleaned up the pages you removed JabberWokky's four color notices from what would your solution to those pages have been? Were you planning on addressing the issue of a what appeared to be a single entity having four duplicative pages? I'm curious if you had something in mind beyond just removing JabberWokky's attempt at a solution? —JasonAller

2010-03-11 21:55:14 Thanks Nick! I just went off of one source, and unfortunately it was all UCD stuff. I recall reading about a book on Davis history somewhere around here that might be fun to pick up and further fill things in. That'll probably be on hold for a while, though. —TomGarberson

2010-05-28 09:42:56 I unfortunately have class at that time. Probably a good thing too because I tend to take all-you-can-eat as a challenge but I am attempting to cut about ten more pounds in case my shoulder gets better by tomorrow and I am able to compete in a Judo tournament tomorrow. —hankim

2010-05-28 09:55:40 Thanks, I will be needing it desperately to survive. —hankim

2010-05-28 18:39:55 I work at 1:45pm, so I may or may not be able to pop by. —SunjeetBaadkar

2010-06-02 08:06:06 It is just a nomenclature error that bugs me. Just like when someone pronounces nuclear "nuke-U-ler" . I dont think it is bad that the two are compared, I just wish people understood that wikipedia does not equal wiki. —DagonJones

2010-06-02 08:07:53 btw, is girl genius a good comic? I thought it looked kind of goofy (not that that is a bad thing), is the story good and the characters well developed? —DagonJones

2010-06-11 21:51:13 Hi Nick, thanks for your comments on my user page. I disagree with your point though. From my perspective, that's exactly what makes the Wiki so great: When I made the mistake of not signing out of my account (that I was using to teach Vaage about Wiki, because he wanted to have an interaction with a "DickLiddle" - hmmm), I was able to go back and correct the error without having to consult a professional or justify the action to anyone. Would appreciate feedback. —TimQuick

2010-06-12 14:34:48 Ah! Sorry for getting back to you so late! I don't check the wiki every day anymore, so I didn't see your message. Sushi would have been cool. —TaniaG

2010-06-13 15:44:48 I'll have to look into that 24 hour sleep awake syndrome. . . I may have it. We may even need to add a page. Who knows who else is suffering from this debilitating disease! :D —CurlyGirl26

2010-07-09 18:41:16 If you feel that way then by all mean either ban them, or start pages calling for their bans. I'll probably argue that it is better to reach out to them and explain why they are being banned rather than just banning them, but let's see how it plays out. —JasonAller

2010-07-13 04:01:11 Yup, unfortunately the 70 year old George Carlin of Comics has passed on. R.I.P Mr. Pekar. —WesOne

2010-07-26 00:08:54 William and Nick: Davis definitely is short on electronics supplies. I mostly go to Best Buy because it is closer to where I live, and I basically hate Fry's. I see your point. That page looks a little bare, though, with just a couple of grocery and drug stores and one big out-of-town retailer. —DonShor

If you love the Davis Farmer's Market.. vote and spread the word. we are 40 votes behind Rochester, New York... The only other Farmer's Market even close to the number Davis has so far. —WesOne

2010-07-29 01:02:47 Its disrespectful to Sam, harmful to his business, and involves an event that may or may not have happened years ago. Sorry to be so peremptory, I probably should have communicated with you first. —DonShor

2010-07-29 10:42:08 Would it work for me to drop by maybe Friday evening to pick up the tabling stuff? —TomGarberson

2010-07-30 08:37:16 Nick, I saw your comment to Cary Arnold. When I searched on Davis Life Magazine, about 95% of the links I looked at were broken. I only went through about 30-40 hits of the ~170 that TG had counted. Are you proposing that someone should search for the correct link for each of those? That's quite an undertaking — certainly not one that I am willing to undertake. In my view, to really do it right you'd also have to incorporate some of the DLM story into the wiki page, and I definitely don't have the time for that! —CovertProfessor

If we had correct links, I think adding a little blurb to each page would be the sort of thing to do over time. If a few different people each did 10 a day, it'd get done in a week or so, and it wouldn't be that big a burden. Of course, we'd also need to find the right links... —tg

2010-07-30 19:09:53 Hey Nick, the problem with the Davis Life links is that the old site wasn't archived at all! There are no links to redirect too. —Davidlm

2010-08-11 08:20:53 Thanks for your comments! I'll be riding "the octopus" almost daily, and I'll let you know how it goes... —AliPezeshkpour

2010-09-03 17:14:18 I am deeply saddened that you are gone. First Chris left (and Erik, Jessica, Jeff, Michelle, Chad & Marie), then you and William, so I have no more friends in Davis. None on this planet, none in this lonely universe. Nobody to help me; nobody that cares in the slightest about me. All alone against the enemies. —SteveDavison

2010-09-21 19:00:14 Thanks for the info. Really too bad I'm working from 9 to 5 that day >.<

I recently realized that if I reformat I will lose my seriously awesome tetris scores, and that makes me sad. —JenniferCook

2010-09-21 19:04:39 Not to mention I don't think I meet the hardware requirements. Doh! —JenniferCook

2010-10-01 16:39:14 I laughed out loud at the "demoting flippancy" comment —TomGarberson

2010-10-01 16:52:02 I don't think you should refrain from editing just because you're not in Davis. The contributions of editors outside Davis have been invaluable. Just because you might not have Davis experiences from the last X amount of time to relate doesn't in any way invalidate your years of experience with the city and the community. —TomGarberson

2010-10-05 14:48:48 Thank you for reverting the firearms page. I'm getting tired of people casually dismissing my edit to that page for petty reasons. I appreciate the help! —RickJames

2010-12-01 22:46:06 Hey Nick, it looks like Railroad Fence and RR Fence Op Ed are identical pages. The latter has a lot more discussion with the easy-to-follow edit history, so I thought it'd be better to keep it. You have one comment on the former one. I'm going to delete the relatively empty one—hopefully you won't mind copying the comment over, if you're still curious about the answer. —TomGarberson

2010-12-02 10:00:08 Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right. The one you posted the question on was created first, and probably had a better name... but it didn't get as much love, so it fell by the wayside. —TomGarberson

2010-12-02 10:14:42 Yeah... it's also just not what anyone is claiming the fence will do (I'm assuming). There's a big difference between "it's worth building because it might save lives, despite the cost and inconvenience" and "it will prevent ALL railroad deaths in Davis." Many of the arguments there seem to be responding to the latter, even though I doubt no one has actually suggested that. —TomGarberson

2010-12-07 10:58:58 I agree! How could people forget the trains when we see and hear them all the time?? —CovertProfessor

2010-12-07 11:07:26 It may be like that old saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt". I could see how someone who has lived near the tracks for a long time would basically stop noticing the trains, because they have effectively become "furniture", which is to say, something that can be safely ignored unless it is needed. —JoePomidor

2010-12-18 20:55:02 Messy wiki pages, while in and of themselves are not a "bad" thing, interfere with the goal of communicating information. From my perspective, a poorly formatted page fails to communicate (high noise:signal ratio) and bothers me the same way that txtspk does. When u hv 2 think hrd abt wat u R readn, u need moar tm 2 read per unit volume of communicated text and it's horrible, really, because the text comes across with the implication that one either does not know enough not to use the format outside of text messages, can't not use it, or do not care about your readers. I don't like to decode 140-character communication shreddies; I prefer polysyllabic Latin-derived descriptive language. —JudithTruman

2010-12-19 13:35:41 I've not read the /politics or /debate pages, so I don't know how rambly they are. As they are controversial topics I would be okay with community-debate threading down wiki if there were sufficient internal markers to track debate points. As far as PSI goes, I didn't know what the organization was or how one joins it, so I went over to the main page, read it, and learned that it's a "join for $X" thing not a "exam to show skills" thing. The prominence of PSI on that page gives it slight misleading note to casual passersby. I can renew my professional society memberships for $X00 and then I get a magazine subscription, too, but the three-letter acronym that would mean something costs $1500 and four 12.5 hour consecutive days of written and practical testing. —JudithTruman

2010-12-23 09:07:27 Your viewpoint on validity of "Street Name Themes" is still filtering in my brain. "Theme Streets" is just a redirect for now. I was thinking that expresses common Davis parlance of "Bird Streets" etc. - not totally sure about it. Also I had trouble remembering "Street Name Themes". —BruceHansen

2010-12-23 17:59:30 Please tell me what the difference is between the names and the streets. Are Christmas lights a theme for names? Thanks. —BruceHansen

2011-02-28 20:22:20 There was an email from Lauren — the deletion was intended to delete a negative review. I replied and cc'ed in Jason (who restored the entry) who can hopefully help get Lauren more on the wiki (and anybody else can help too!). Sometimes there's a bit of a hurdle for those first steps to actually know how to communicate with other participants and find help on the wiki. —JabberWokky

2011-03-07 11:18:59 I can't really be the spokesperson for all people and/or wikipeople that use nicknames for others. In the case of Compassion Guy, I didn't give him that name; it was used in the article in The Aggie that you can view on the page I created for him. You'll also notice that his real name is next to his nickname in the wiki entry. As for nicknames in general—they are just that: nicknames. As far as I've learned between some art history and sociology classes, our brains like to categorize things we see and hear to keep brain chatter manageable. This might explain the reason why nicknames or monikers such as "Visor Lady" exist. Especially if one doesn't know someone's real name, our brains like to say, "Oh, there's that lady again with the visor that I've seen around town a million times." That gets translated into monikers like "Visor Lady". That's my best quick explanation. —EliseKane

2011-03-07 11:34:47 p.s. If you read the intro someone composed on the Town Characters page, the language used implies no disrespect but rather reverence for these distinctive individuals listed. I have included that intro below, from whoever wrote it, and capitalized the words that I believe are used in appreciation of the Town Characters: Just like every other town, Davis has its own DISTINCT and MEMORABLE characters to LAUD. People get included in this list for many reasons. Some are listed to CELEBRATE and HONOR the distinct or INTERESTING ATTRIBUTES that make them VISIBLE INDIVIDUALS IN A SEA OF SAMENESS. ROCK ON, characters — you're the people who will be REMEMBERED long after the nondescript faces walking along the sidewalk are forgotten! —EliseKane

2011-03-07 16:13:36 Well, you can continue to find it offensive and I will continue to find these names interesting. I don't really see what the point is in discussing it. You obviously are taking a confrontational and provocative approach to this, but I prefer to let something as harmless as this let lie. What is your point in using aggressive language in asking me about something that you already have your mind made up about anyway? Please refrain from discourteous interactions in the future or I will not respond to your posts at all. —EliseKane

2011-03-08 10:51:11 Ah, yeah, I tend to think that Davis water is something of a personal taste thing. I, for myself, hate hate hate the flavor, and I'm really looking forward to getting water that's as good as the stuff I get at work in Rancho Cordova. I can see where those who like Davis water might be put off, though... —JoePomidor

2011-03-31 20:21:49 Thanks Nick! I'm glad you like the Japanese page so far. —ScottMeehleib

2011-06-02 11:53:09 Considering you were up at 12:15am on the Davis Wiki, I will not consider you in the con artist group, at least you were up to some good not causing shenanigans. You can appeal my ruling however. Haha

2011-08-14 22:24:46 I agree Nick, but I don't really know what to do about it at this point. I don't understand why more people can't understand that it's mainly an issue of basic respect and privacy, and in my opinion, has very little to do with political correctness. In my understanding, these sorts of pages are even of dubious legality under U.S. privacy laws' definition of what makes for reasonable public disclosure. —ScottMeehleib

2011-08-14 22:44:07 And really, those laws are there for a good reason. Not everybody enjoys or benefits from being in the limelight. It reminds me of the "Star Wars Kid" from a couple years ago. The kid basically had a mental breakdown and had to switch schools and get psychological help. Obviously, these entries are not on a national scale as that video was, but I think the basic idea is still applicable and similar enough. There was a huge lawsuit involved in that case, and yet many people couldn't understand why the kid couldn't "get over it" since it was a video that he himself actually created in which he was expressing himself. But the video was leaked without his permission, and that's the key difference between acceptability and unacceptability in a case dealing with people who aren't celebrities or acknowledged public figures. —ScottMeehleib

2011-08-14 23:14:12 And even if the trike is interesting, it probably isn't unique enough to be newsworthy which is another criterion for public disclosure. That's another thing I think you were getting at in your comment. If it was shaped like the Batmobile or something then it would be different because desire for public attention would be implied. It's really gray area as it stands. On this wiki wiki where people are often so gung-ho about deleting advertise-speak to "protect" the wiki, I find it ironic that most have no problem letting this sort of thing stand. —ScottMeehleib Newsworthyness is a candidate for TOW, for something to find it's way into Davis wiki it merely have to exist in Davis... Daubert

2011-08-15 02:48:24 What you said as far as PC being respect without empathy makes a lot of sense. I never thought of it that way before, but I think you hit the nail on the head. There is a sense of lifeless formality that people associate with the guidelines of political correctness. —ScottMeehleib

2011-08-16 14:37:28 So if I don't know the guy's name, then I should rename the page about him so it is about his trike until such time I learn his name... then I can change it back? —WilliamLewis

2011-08-16 15:07:03 We should avoid "slam book" pages, I agree. I think the better question is whether any of the contested pages actually ARE slam pages? Other than the name Electric Trike Guy is there anything you contest specifically? —EdWins

2011-08-16 15:33:44 Ok, but the "Yellow Electric Trike" page had the exact same page content as "Electric Trike Guy." I don't know if that change at all actually addresses the issue/your comment. In a way, William is kind of right. As you just said, people want to know more about the guy/his name...the focus of the page is still the guy, not the make/model of his electric trike. While "Electric Trike Guy" might be odd and could be reworded, I think "yellow electric trike" as a page title is off topic. However, the bigger issue is really the question CP is asking. —EdWins

It is dehumanizing to state what is known about someone when one's knowledge is incomplete, especially when more complete information is difficult to acquire.

It is malicious to do the above.

It is dehumanizing to bring attention to people who are different from the norm, especially when these people are extremely visible in a community. —WilliamLewis

And I reject your poisonous assumption that such a generalized "norm" actually exists and that is somehow a reasonable activity to publicly categorize people by normal and abnormal traits. —ScottMeehleib

If such a norm didn't exist, would any of the town character pages exist? It is ridiculous to attempt to deny this. As for whether or not this is a reasonable activity, I can't argue with your opinion. I can say that the wiki exists to document what people see and hear around town. —wl

2011-08-16 20:46:31 Well, there's nothing wrong with standing up for a principle you believe in. I don't think that's being self-righteous, and it's not hypocritical to want to draw a line somewhere. I definitely understand what you're saying, though I also agree that it's a bit difficult to put into words. With the trike guy, it does seem a bit like we're just picking on someone without much money and with mobility issues. Yay. —CovertProfessor

2011-12-06 19:38:25 Ah, ok, thanks. Yes, I get frustrated too when *all* of the focus is on the pepper spraying incident or the Chancellor. It's important because there needs to be accountability and a change in policies to allow for future protests, but as you say, sometimes the original reasons for the protest get lost (although, in fairness, the original reasons did include police over-reaction to protest at UC Berkeley). However, I'm starting to think it's unlikely that this Chancellor will resign or be asked to resign, which in my mind is all the more reason to focus back on the core issues. Sorry, my head is a bit muddled today — hope that makes sense. —CovertProfessor

2011-12-08 14:13:33 Thanks for the comment. You could say the same thing about many great people early in their life. I'm not by any means saying Gandhi was perfect but you could quote some of the things that Malcolm X said early in his life and that doesn't necessarily reflect who he was trying to be at the end of his life. I was using Gandhi to highlight the need for non-violent, non-compliance when there is a corrupt system with corrupt laws. Burning passes in South Africa, the salt march in India. Hope that explains my point a little better. Gandhi himself didn't like being called Mahatma meaning "great soul" and being held up as an idol but it happens - he accomplished amazing things. —ConsciousConsumer

2012-01-12 07:52:44 "Alot" isn't a word, no. But I agree that in this context, "a lot" is ambiguous! —CovertProfessor

2012-02-24 13:24:49 Why thank you, Fiona sure thinks she's cute too. Sadly, I do not have cute penguins in my computer to tell you about :( Have a lovely day :) —LoriOrf

2013-08-01 14:19:59 There's lots of other comments about AndreaThomas from other people. I'm not comfortable deleting it when others have requested it stay —PeteB